'Amazing' Switcheroo: Cowboys From Last to First

Cowboy brothers Jet and Cord McCoy came into the latest leg of "The Amazing Race" desperately trying to hang on. They had finished last in the Seychelles, saved only by the fact it was non-elimination stop. So they arrived in Malaysia having to complete a speed bump in addition to the other task.

They ended up doing everything so fast, they became the first team in 15 seasons to go from last to first in one week. At the same time, Steve and Allie Smith, the father/daughter team who ended up first place last week for the first time, ended up last on Sunday and were eliminated.

Has there ever been a topsy turvy week to week turn on "The Amazing Race"?

The changes didn't come easy, though the cowboys were the only team to complete a scary-looking task that involved balancing 30-foot flag poles on the forehead for 120 feet. Allie, for her part, declared she couldn't do it before she even tried and they crossed town trying to do the other task, never quite catching up. The cowboys, though, trained bull riders, considered it just another dare in public and they sailed right through. In fact, nothing held them up and they flew through the leg without so much as even seeing another team - this despite having a third task of sniffing the right tea out for a guru.

As for the remaining teams in between Brent & Caite were hellbent on beating the team they kept calling "the lesbians" but fell behind them. Dan & Jordan went from speeding ahead with "the best taxi driver in Malaysia" to scrambling to find a cab. Louie & Michael had cab issues too and Michael was having his own problems climbing the stairs of a Buddhist monastery lugging incense logs.

Next week, it's off to Singapore.

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Roger Catlin is TV critic for the Hartford Courant and writes a daily column about what's on television called TV Eye. He is also on the board of the Television Critics Association. Before all of this, he was rock critic ... read more